Why YOU Should Care About Amazon Book Reviews
Please, leave me an Amazon review! It’s the best way you can help a writer succeed!”
See that? It’s the new battle cry of many an author, myself included. Amazon keeps its internal marketing algorithms a closely guarded secret, and thus many authors have tried cracking the code over the years. Somewhat of a ‘no-brainer’ has always been “The More Reviews The Better.” Well, there’s more to it than that, and I think I may have just figured part of it out.
And the primary beneficiary of this new knowledge is you, the reader.
What’s the breakthrough? What do you get by leaving Amazon reviews? Cheaper books. I believe that the more reviews a book has, the more Amazon discounts the price. And–this next part is huge–they’re only diluting their own cut. As in, the author keeps the same royalty and the savings are directly passed onto the reader.
Where’s the proof?
Here’s my book, which Amazon offers at a 10% cut. They only started doing so somewhere around the 30 review mark.
Here’s another self-published book written by a friend. You can see, more reviews, bigger discount.
This is a traditionally published book, but you can see that it follows the same pattern.
And lastly, a mega-hit book. Tons of reviews, tons of savings.
Note: This is merely a trend I have noticed. I do not have an inside connection at Amazon. But if you love books, leave a review.
Second Note: For whatever reason, this only applies to paperback editions.
So, how about it, penny for your thoughts? If you haven’t left a review yet, please do! It will discount the book for other buyers without hurting the author’s cut. It should go without saying, but I want nothing less than your honest opinion. If you thought the book was a 3-star book, tell me why. If you think it’s 5-stars, I’d love to hear what you loved about it too!
Click Here to leave a review for INFECTED and then go spread the word! More reviews; cheaper books.
Author James Schannep 